


Losses At Both Ends

by alightinspace



Category: Homestuck, MS Paint Adventures
Genre: AU, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, F/M, M/M, San Diego Comic-Con, discovering sexuality
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-11-04
Updated: 2013-11-23
Packaged: 2017-12-31 11:54:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,149
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1031438
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alightinspace/pseuds/alightinspace
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jake English and his younger cousin, John Egbert, recently made their living together last by working endless shifts until they could finally move out together. Jake let his cousin stay with him in his apartment while he attends school, and the two become near brothers until they meet the Strider brothers online while playing co-op video games.<br/>The two begin to dispute after meeting them in person, because while John is obviously infatuated by Jake's close friend, the eldest Strider, Dirk, Dirk seems far less interested in John, and more interested in Jake. Only one problem: Jake isn't very sure he<br/>has feelings for any boys like that, let alone his best friend! And now that it's causing John and him to fight, was it worth pursuing<br/>even if he was interested?<br/>Losses At Both Ends is a story of recently made adults trying to figure out their sexuality and where they think they belong, told with humor and from different perspectives.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

==> GT: Prepare yourself!!

 

 

Your name is Jake English and boy, are you excited! And by saying that, you mean, golly, you are so ecstatic you can hardly sleep! 

For the past few weeks, you and your cousin, John, have been preparing for the San Diego Comic Con, which you have been waiting to go to since, well, forever! You couldn't be more happier that you could finally, after endless shifts of working overtime and saving your money, afford it. Both of you. But with a convention comes costumes. And like hell if you weren't going to go to the United States' famous comic convention without an amazingly hand-crafted costume!

You and John spent a long time debating on what costumes you should do. There was talk of being from certain video games, comics, movies, but you and John hardly had the same taste regarding those topics. He liked absurd, badly made movies while you like much more adventurous and legendary cinematic masterpieces. He proposed series you would HARDLY want to dress up from. 

John suggested dressing up from Ghostbusters, and golly, you didn't want to do that. So you, as probably expected, mention perhaps Indiana Jones. You even made a pun about him being 'Indiana John,' even though you would be a better Indiana Jones, in your opinion. Still, neither of you agreed, and as the convention approached, you still had no costumes. None that were together, at least. 

Sure, it disappointed you. John was your cousin and practically your brother, so of course you wanted to spend time and familial bonding with him at this convention. You haven't actually spent that much time just having fun with him since before he moved in. All you two do now is play online games together and sometimes watch movies. You miss hanging  out with John, because honestly, he had been your best friend for the longest time. He helped you out of a rough patch of depression and overall, he was really great. The least you could do when he decided to go to college was let him stay with you, since you lived so close to his campus.  That kid was so smart. Going into a biology field at such a young age! You were more than proud of him. 

It was a week to the convention. Most of John's things were packed and he had costumes made. He apparently went through with making his Ghostbusters costume, or rather, he bought the suit and managed to construct a proton pack with the help of your mutual friend, Dirk Strider.

Speaking of Dirk Strider, you completely forgot to message him today with your progress on your costumes thus far! You decided you should better get on that, because you hate to keep him waiting.

When you logged on to your Pesterchum, your chat client of choice, you waited for it to load, all but patient. When his icon flashed on, you smiled a little. Dirk was such a great friend and your mood always raised a little when you could talk to him. You began to type, but he was already on it.

\-- timaeusTestified [TT] began pestering golgothasTerror [GT] at 16:13 --

TT: One week as of today, English.

TT: You ready, or do I have to bail you out? And I have my own shit to worry about, so I don't think that is a reasonable option.

GT: I am absolutely fine, thank you, Strider!!

GT:  In fact, I am about 90% sure I will be finished far before the deadline I have set for myself!

TT: And...I take it that deadline is the convention itself?

GT: ...

GT: Anywho! I will be done in time, I assure you.

GT: In fact, I came online to tell you just that! My progress is coming along swimmingly!!

TT: Oh, is it now?

GT: Yes it is!!

GT: ...

GT: Wait now. Hold on.

GT: Was that sarcasm I detected?! Are you being *sarcastic* with me, Strider?!

TT: Oh, why never, Mr. English.

GT: That's what I thought!! You did it again!!

GT: I will give you a good punch to the gut as soon as I see you in person, mark my words, Dirk Strider. 

TT: I'm very scared. You've got me fucking shaking, Jake. You're a whole 5'6, moderately-muscled menace. I swear to god, I'll piss my pants in your presence.

GT: Hey!! That's 5'6 *AND* three quarters! I measured!! And I'm well toned, thank you very much!

TT: Jake.

GT: What??

TT: Give me a break.

GT: Urgh!! Make that *two* punches, just for being an asshole!!

TT: I'm looking forward to it. 

\-- golgothasTerror [GT] ceased pestering timaeusTestified [TT] at 16:20 --

Boy, he infuriated you sometimes! Why couldn't he just trust you could get things done in time? He just wanted you to have to rely on him, and like hell you were going to give him that satisfaction! You would finish this costume if it killed you, which it better not, because like you said before, you have a convention to show up to!

Despite your determination, your procrastination took rule, and you sometimes decided to pester him instead of doing the work you should be doing. Oh well. It wasn't like you needed to deprive yourself of socializing all because of a costume! A few days later, however, you wouldn't be finding yourself thinking the same thing. You were rushing and hurrying to find the perfect pair of shorts, the perfect kind of jacket, whatever you could to make your costume look its best. 

With many last minute trips to Wal-mart's and endless hours of construction, you and John had managed to piece things together by late Wednesday night, the day before the convention, and you were so proud of yourself that you decided you had to gloat to someone about it, since for the past few hours you already had been bragging to John about it. So, to soothe your need to brag, you decide to pester Dirk once more.

\-- golgothasTerror [GT] started pestering timaeusTestified [TT] at 17:23 --

GT: I *told* you!!

TT: Told me what?

GT: I finished!! I finished everything in time!

TT: Well, I'll be damned.

TT: Let's have a parade.

 

You decide to just shut off your computer when he says that, because jeez, his sarcasm had you fed up. You were more annoyed than anything. You worked hard to get these things packed and finished! Never mind that. You'd and John would see Dirk and his younger brother, Dave, tomorrow, and you could certainly show him up at the convention!

Either way, you had to get some sleep. You had a long drive the next day to look forward to!


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys like this chapter. It'll really start picking up soon, promise! I have good intentions for this fanfic!

==TG: Get in the goddamn vehicle.

  
Your brother had been up since practically 3 am playing Left 4 Dead with you, and of course, you'd never pass up an opporotunity to kick his ass in a game in which you had so much skill it was pretty much determined who should be king of video game ass-kicking. Did that even make sense? You shake your head as you pack up your suitcase. You were dog tired. Who cares if your thoughts make sense?

  
You had been really concerned, actually, about Dirk the night before. He seemed nervous. Anxious, even. And you had no doubt he would be excited for the convention the next day, but this was a different kind of nervous. It had you almost worried, but worrying was lame. And you were anything BUT lame. Your name was Dave Strider and you were hella rad. Hella.

  
You and your brother were about 5 years apart. Dirk was taller, more muscular, and had define features that even you would admit made him very handsome. And then there was you. You were good-looking, sure, but you weren't much compared to your brother. At least, not to the general public. He was the one to have girls ask him out constantly in high school, to have all the friends, and you would be the one that watched. You were Dirk Strider's shadow. And you hated that.

  
Even despite the jealousy- wait- no. No, you weren't jealous. That would be dumb. Striders don't do jealousy. Anyways, you looked up to your brother and admired him since you were little. Your father had skipped out after Dirk was born and your mother was sick after giving birth to you. When she died after you were born, when you were nearly a year old, you constantly wondered, even now, why Dirk didn't hate you after that. He loved you. The two of you didn't have any other family, and you were soon sent to foster care.

  
It took you both about two years to get adopted. Luckily, it was together. Dirk was 8, you were 3. As far as you were concerned, these 'adoptive' parents were your actual parents. They raised you. You couldn't recall your mother, nor would you ever have been able to, and you'd never met your father. Dirk told you that even though you had different fathers, it didn't matter. Family was family.

  
And though you two WERE the only family you had left, it was frustrating that he never shared anything he was feeling. Don't worry, you would remind yourself, you aren't stupid for caring about him, right?

  
You really just didn't want him to struggle more because of you. You knew you held him back, especially since the two of you lived together now, ever since you graduated from highschool. You would've attended college if you could have, but you had to be honest. You couldn't afford that. Dirk, on the other hand, got plenty of scholarships. He took robotics classes and was working in some type of engineering program you couldn't recall. Another thing to envy, you supposed.  
But it was morning. You didn't have to worry about it. You were going to a convention, you were going to meet your friends, and you were going to have fun. End of the line. You wouldn't let this weekend be shitty. No way.

  
You brought your suitcase out to the front of the apartment parking lot, approaching your brother's rather beaten up red truck, throwing it in the backseat and piling in the front, your brother beside you. You tossed a soda at him, and he caught it promptly. It was 7 o'clock in the morning. You were tired. You knew the two of you would need all the caffiene you could get.

  
It wasn't until he started driving through down the road that he started to speak.

  
"It's going to be weird," he spoke softly, the hint of his slight, just slight, Southern accent as an undertone of his words, "seeing them in real life."  
You take a sip of your Diet Coca-cola, nodding, knowing exactly what he meant.

  
"Yeah, I guess." It was one thing seeing your good friends, but the fact that you were, oh, about 98.25% sure that you had some kind of homosexual tendencies or feelings or something towards one of them made things awkward. Super awkward. So you had to keep your cool at all costs. That was the bottom line.

  
Speak of the devil, here he was, bright and early. What a fucking honor.

  
\-- ectoBiologist[EB] started pestering turntechGodhead [TG] at 7:34 --  
EB: hey! happy nerd convention day!  
TG: oh  
TG: well that explains why you're going  
TG: you must be fuckin running the convention if its a nerd convention  
TG: i mean youre nerdier than  
TG: uh  
TG: augh you know what  
TG: fuck this  
TG: i cant concentrate when its piss shit 7 am and im half awake but mostly asleep  
TG: i mean seriously  
TG: what do you expect out of me egbert  
TG: im supposed to just come up with things to make you have seizures of epic proportions because you are laughing so fucking hard  
EB: dave.  
TG: no  
TG: hell no  
TG: thats it john  
TG: we're done  
TG: i'm afraid i'll have to finalize my divorce to you  
TG: you get the kids and ill take the dog  
TG: at least little kujo is more attractive than your ugly ass children  
EB: gee i'm flattered.  
EB: anyways can you maybe listen to me for like 5 minutes?  
TG: ugh  
TG: i suppose  
TG: what is it  
EB: so we're like  
EB: i'd say like maybe 20 minutes from the convention center  
EB: do you want to hang out when you guys get there or do you want to wait until later?  
EB: ...  
EB: please tell me you didn't JUST leave now, dave.  
EB: ...dave?  
EB: david fucking strider  
EB: daviathan  
EB: david motherfucking strider  
EB: goddamn it dave answer me

  
You had fallen asleep against the car window, phone in hand with your conversation, far before he even asked the question.


End file.
